Government Regulation and Financial Aid |
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Sep. 30, 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Risks and Uncertainties [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Government Regulation and Financial Aid | Government Regulation and Financial Aid Our institutions participate in a variety of government-sponsored financial aid programs that assist students in paying their cost of education. The largest source of such support is the federal programs of student financial assistance under Title IV of the HEA. This support, commonly referred to as Title IV Programs, is administered by ED. To participate in Title IV Programs, an institution must be authorized to offer its programs of instruction by relevant state education agencies, be accredited by an accrediting commission recognized by ED and be certified as an eligible institution by ED. To participate in veterans' benefits programs, including the Post-9/11 GI Bill, the Montgomery GI Bill, the Reserve Education Assistance Program (REAP) and VA Vocational Rehabilitation, an institution must comply with certain requirements applicable to the programs. Additionally, certain states and their attorneys general have additional requirements to operate our institutions or for our students to receive state funding. Furthermore, we are subject to oversight by other federal agencies including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the SEC, the Federal Trade Commission, the Internal Revenue Service and the Departments of Veterans Affairs, Defense, Treasury, Labor and Justice. For these reasons, our institutions are subject to extensive regulatory requirements imposed by all of these entities. The Program Participation Agreement (PPA) document serves as ED’s formal authorization of an institution and its associated additional locations to participate in Title IV Programs for a specified period of time. We received a fully recertified PPA for Universal Technical Institute of Texas in April 2018, which will expire March 31, 2022. In November 2018, we received a fully recertified PPA for Universal Technical Institute of Arizona and a fully recertified PPA for Universal Technical Institute of Phoenix. Both of the PPA's will expire on March 31, 2022. State Authorization Each of our institutions must be authorized by the applicable state education agency where the institution is located to operate and offer a postsecondary education program to its students. Our institutions are subject to extensive, ongoing regulation by each of these states. Additionally, our institutions are required to be authorized by the applicable state education agencies of certain other states in which our institutions recruit students. Currently, each of our institutions is authorized by the applicable state education agency or agencies. The level of regulatory oversight varies substantially from state to state and is extensive in some states. State laws typically establish standards for instruction, qualifications of faculty, location and nature of facilities and equipment, administrative procedures, marketing, recruiting, student outcomes reporting, disclosure obligations to students, limitations on mandatory arbitration clauses in enrollment agreements, financial operations and other operational matters. State laws and regulations may limit our ability to offer educational programs and to award certificates, diplomas or degrees. Some states prescribe standards of financial responsibility that are not consistent with those required by ED and some mandate that institutions post surety bonds. Currently, we have posted surety bonds on behalf of our institutions and admissions representatives with multiple states of approximately $21.1 million. Some states have added regulations that impose additional requirements on our schools and increase the complexity of existing requirements. Other states have added, or may add in the future, new or more complex requirements applicable to our institutions, but we cannot predict the timing, content or impact of any such requirements. Accreditation Accreditation is a non-governmental process through which an institution voluntarily submits to ongoing qualitative reviews by an organization of peer institutions. Accrediting commissions examine the academic quality of the institution’s instructional programs, and a grant of accreditation is generally viewed as confirmation that the institution’s programs meet generally accepted academic standards and practices. Accrediting commissions also review the administrative and financial operations of the institutions they accredit to ensure that each institution has the resources necessary to perform its educational mission, implement continuous improvement processes and support student success. Accreditation by an ED-recognized commission is required for an institution to be certified to participate in Title IV Programs. In order to be recognized by ED, accrediting commissions must adopt specific standards for their review of educational institutions. All of our institutions are accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges, an accrediting commission recognized by ED. An accrediting commission may place an institution on reporting status to monitor one or more specified areas of performance in relation to the accreditation standards. An institution placed on reporting status is required to report periodically to the accrediting commission on that institution’s performance in the area or areas specified by the commission. Regulation of Federal Student Financial Aid Programs To participate in Title IV Programs, an institution must be authorized to offer its programs by the relevant state education agencies, be accredited by an accrediting commission recognized by ED and be certified as eligible by ED. ED will certify an institution to participate in Title IV Programs only after the institution has demonstrated compliance with the HEA and ED’s extensive regulations regarding institutional eligibility. An institution must also demonstrate its compliance to ED on an ongoing basis. All of our institutions are certified to participate in Title IV Programs. Congress has historically focused on for-profit education institutions, specifically regarding participation in Title IV Programs and U.S. DOD oversight of tuition assistance for military service members attending for-profit colleges. Continued Congressional activity could result in the enactment of more stringent legislation by Congress, further rulemakings affecting participation in Title IV Programs and other governmental actions, increasing regulation of the for-profit sector. Action by Congress may also increase our administrative costs and require us to modify our practices in order for our institutions to comply with Title IV Program requirements. In addition, concerns generated by this Congressional activity may adversely affect enrollment in for-profit educational institutions such as ours. Significant factors relating to Title IV Programs that could adversely affect us include the following: Gainful Employment As described in our 2018 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on November 30, 2018, ED’s gainful employment regulations include debt to earning (DE) metrics and disclosure requirements for program certifications, reporting and disclosure of program information and warnings. On July 1, 2019, ED issued final regulations that rescind the gainful employment regulations. The final regulations have an effective date of July 1, 2020. However, ED stated in a June 28, 2019 electronic announcement that institutions may elect to immediately implement the new regulations. Institutions that early implement the regulations will not be required to: report gainful employment data for the 2018-2019 award year; comply with requirements for including a gainful employment disclosure template in their promotional materials or for directly distributing the disclosure template to prospective students; post gainful employment disclosures on their web pages or comply with certification requirements for gainful employment. ED stated in the electronic announcement that institutions that do not early implement the new regulations are expected to comply with the existing gainful employment regulations by July 1, 2020. We have early implemented the new regulations. Defense to Repayment Regulations The current regulations on defense to repayment were published on November 1, 2016, with an effective date of July 1, 2017. On October 24, 2017, ED published an interim regulation that delayed until July 1, 2018, the effective date of the majority of the regulations. On February 14, 2018, a final rule was published in the Federal Register delaying until July 1, 2019 the effective date of the regulations. On September 12, 2018, a U.S. District Court judge issued an opinion concluding, among other things, that the delay in the effective date was unlawful. On October 16, 2018, the judge issued an order declining to extend a stay preventing the regulations from taking effect. Consequently, the November 1, 2016 regulations are now in effect. The Department held negotiated rulemaking sessions beginning in November 2017 and ending in February 2018, with the objective of modifying the defense to repayment regulations. However, no consensus was reached on the proposed regulations. ED subsequently published a notice of proposed rulemaking on July 31, 2018 that included the proposed regulations for public comment. On September 23, 2019, ED published the final regulations. The final regulations have a general effective date of July 1, 2020. The Department has not authorized institutions to early implement the new regulations prior to July 1, 2020 with the exception of certain financial responsibility regulations related to operational leases and long-term debt. Consequently, we generally will remain subject to the current regulations until the new regulations take effect on July 1, 2020. Closed School Loan Discharges ED regulations state that ED may discharge a borrower’s obligation to repay certain Title IV loans if the borrower (or the student on whose behalf a parent borrowed) did not complete the program of study for which the loan was made because the campus at which the borrower (or student) was enrolled closed. The borrower may qualify for a discharge by submitting a request to ED and meeting specific requirements in the regulations. Borrowers generally may qualify for a discharge if they were enrolled at the campus at the time it closed, or if they were enrolled not more than 120 days before the campus closed, and if they did not complete their educational program through a teach-out at another school or by transferring academic credits earned at the closed school to another school. ED has the authority to extend the 120-day period for extenuating circumstances. If ED discharges the loans, ED may seek to recover from the school or other related parties the amount of loans discharged and to impose other liabilities and penalties. Consequently, if we close a campus, ED could discharge borrower obligations to repay certain Title IV - either on its own initiative or upon application by the borrower - loans in connection with loans received by all students enrolled in the campus at the time of its closure and by all students who withdrew from the campus 120 days (or a longer period established by ED) prior to the closure and seek to recover the amount of the discharged loans and other liabilities and penalties. We may be able to mitigate these losses by conducting or arranging for an orderly teach-out of students at a closed campus, but these efforts could be unsuccessful if students decline to participate in the teach-out or transfer their credits to another school or if they fail to complete their programs. ED published new regulations on September 23, 2019 that included proposed regulations on a variety of topics, including amendments to regulations related to the discharge of student loans based on the school’s closure or a false claim of high school completion under certain circumstances. The new regulations take effect on July 1, 2020, and apply to loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2020. Among other things, the new regulations allows students to obtain a discharge if, among other requirements, they were enrolled not more than 180 days before the campus closed. ED has the authority to extend the 180-day period for extenuating circumstances. The borrower also must certify that the student has not accepted the opportunity to complete, or is not continuing in, the program of study or comparable program through either an institutional teach-out plan performed by the school or a teach-out agreement at another school, approved by the school’s accrediting agency and, if applicable, state licensing agency. ED also has the authority to discharge on its own initiative the loans of qualified borrowers without a borrower application if the borrower did not subsequently re-enroll in any Title IV eligible institution within three years from the date the school closed. The September 23, 2019 regulations limit this authority to schools that close between November 1, 2013 and July 1, 2020. On February 18, 2019, we announced that our campus in Norwood, Massachusetts is no longer accepting new student applications, and its last class group of students started on March 18, 2019. The campus is expected to close before the end of fiscal year 2020, after the July 1, 2020 effective date of the regulations. We intend to teach out all of the students currently enrolled at the campus, although certain students may elect to withdraw before graduation, and we cannot predict the number of any students who might withdraw prior to the closure of the campus and potentially qualify for a loan discharge. 90/10 Rule A for-profit institution loses its eligibility to participate in Title IV Programs if it derives more than 90% of its revenue from Title IV Programs for two consecutive fiscal years as calculated under a cash basis formula mandated by ED. The HEA and ED regulations set forth specific requirements for the calculation of the Title IV Program revenue percentage, mandate expanded disclosure requirements in how an institution presents the calculation and impose negative consequences if an institution exceeds the 90% limit in a single fiscal year. The HEA provides that an institution will lose its Title IV Program eligibility for a period of at least two institutional fiscal years if it exceeds the 90% threshold for two consecutive institutional fiscal years. The loss of such eligibility would begin on the first day following the conclusion of the second consecutive year in which the institution exceeded the 90% limit and, as such, any Title IV Program funds already received by the institution and its students during a period of ineligibility would have to be returned to ED or a lender, if applicable. Additionally, if an institution exceeds the 90% level for a single year, ED will place the institution on provisional certification for a period of at least two years, could impose other restrictions or conditions on the institution's Title IV eligibility, and, under ED’s current financial responsibility regulations, could conclude that the institution lacks financial responsibility and is required to submit a letter of credit or other form of financial protection. The HEA sets specific standards for certain elements in the calculation of an institution’s percentage under the 90/10 Rule, including, among other things, the treatment of institutional loans and revenue received from students who are enrolled in educational programs that are not eligible for Title IV Program funding. For the year ended September 30, 2019, approximately 71% of our revenues, on a cash basis, were derived from funds distributed under Title IV Programs, as calculated under the 90/10 rule. Federal Student Loan Defaults To remain eligible to participate in Title IV Programs, institutions must maintain federal student loan cohort default rates below specified levels. ED calculates an institution’s cohort default rate on an annual basis. Under the current calculation, the cohort default rate is derived from student borrowers who first enter loan repayment during a federal fiscal year (FFY) ending September 30 and subsequently default on those loans within the two following years; parent borrowers are excluded from the calculation. This represents a three-year measuring period. An institution whose cohort default rate is 30% or more for three consecutive FFYs or greater than 40% for any given FFY loses eligibility to participate in some or all Title IV Programs. This sanction is effective for the remainder of the FFY in which the institution lost its eligibility and for the two subsequent FFYs. None of our institutions had a three-year cohort default rate of 30% or greater for 2016, 2015 or 2014, the three most recent FFYs with published rates. Financial Responsibility Standards All institutions participating in Title IV Programs must satisfy specific ED standards of financial responsibility. ED evaluates institutions for compliance with these standards each year, based on the institution’s annual audited financial statements, as well as following a change of control of the institution. Under current regulations and under regulations to take effect on July 1, 2020, ED may reevaluate the financial responsibility of an institution following the occurrence of certain triggering events. The institution’s financial responsibility is measured in part by its composite score that is calculated by ED based on three ratios:
ED assigns a strength factor to the results of each of these ratios on a scale from negative 1.0 to positive 3.0, with negative 1.0 reflecting financial weakness and positive 3.0 reflecting financial strength. ED then assigns a weighting percentage to each ratio and adds the weighted scores for the three ratios together to produce a composite score for the institution. The composite score must be at least 1.5 for the institution to be deemed financially responsible without the need for further oversight. In addition to having an acceptable composite score, an institution must, among other things, meet all of its financial obligations including required refunds to students and any Title IV Program liabilities and debts, be current in its debt payments, comply with certain past performance requirements, not receive an adverse, qualified, or disclaimed opinion by its accountants in its audited financial statements, and not be subject to financial triggering events. If ED determines that an institution does not satisfy its financial responsibility standards, depending on the resulting composite score and other factors, that institution may establish its financial responsibility on an alternative basis. If an institution's composite score is below 1.5, but is at least 1.0, the institution is in a category classified by ED as the zone. Under ED regulations, institutions in the zone solely because their composite score is less than 1.5 are still considered to be financially responsible, but require additional oversight by ED in the form of cash monitoring and other participation requirements. Institutions in the zone typically are permitted by ED to continue to participate in the Title IV programs under one of two alternatives: 1) the “Zone Alternative” under which an institution is required to make disbursements to students under a payment method other than ED’s standard repayment, typically the Heightened Cash Monitoring 1 (HCM1) payment method; to notify ED within 10 days after the occurrence of certain oversight and financial events and to comply with other operating conditions imposed by ED or 2) submit a letter of credit to ED equal to at least 50 percent of the Title IV funds received by the institutions during the most recent fiscal year. ED permits an institution to participate under the “Zone Alternative” for a period of up to three consecutive fiscal years. Under the current regulations that are in effect until July 1, 2020, the list of information that an institution must provide timely to ED under the “Zone Alternative” includes, in addition to the events described under the financial protection measures and any other events that ED might require, any event that causes the institution, or a related entity, to realize any liability that was noted as a contingent liability in the institution’s or related entity’s most recent audited financial statements or any losses that are unusual in nature and infrequently occur or both as defined in accordance with certain specified accounting standards. The institution also would be required to notify ED of certain other events described in the current Defense to Repayment regulations. ED could impose a letter of credit or other conditions or requirements upon us in response to the reporting of any oversight or financial events. Under the HCM1 payment method, the institution is required to make Title IV disbursements to eligible students and parents before it requests or receives funds for the amount of those disbursements from ED. As long as the student accounts are credited before the funding requests are initiated, an institution is permitted to draw down funds through ED’s electronic system for grants management and payments for the amount of disbursements made to eligible students. Unlike the Heightened Cash Monitoring 2 (HCM2) or reimbursement payment methods, the HCM1 payment method typically does not require institutions to submit documentation to ED and wait for ED approval before drawing down Title IV funds. ED may place an institution that is in the zone on the HCM2 or reimbursement methods of payment. An institution on the HCM1, HCM2 or reimbursement payment methods must pay any credit balances due to a student or parent before drawing down funds from ED for the amount of disbursements made to the student or parent. If an institution's composite score or recalculated composite score is below 1.0, the institution is considered by ED to lack financial responsibility. If ED determines that an institution does not satisfy ED's financial responsibility standards, depending on its composite score and other factors, that institution may establish its financial responsibility on an alternative basis by, among other things:
If an institution is unable to establish financial responsibility on an alternative basis, the institution may be subject to financial penalties, restrictions on operations and loss of external financial aid funding. If an institution does not establish its financial responsibility by the end of the period for which ED provisionally certified the institution, ED may continue to provisionally certify the institution, but may require one or more persons or entities that exercise substantial control over the institution, as defined by ED regulations, to provide ED with financial protection for an amount determined by ED and to be jointly and severally liable for any liabilities that may arise from the institution’s participation in the Title IV programs. The current regulations that are in effect until July 1, 2020, expanded the list of actions or events that require an institution to provide ED with a letter of credit or other form of acceptable financial protection. The regulations also, among other things, may increase the amount of the letter of credit or other form of financial protection that an institution must provide to ED if the institution has a composite score below 1.0, no longer qualifies for the Zone Alternative, or does not comply with other applicable requirements of the financial responsibility regulations. The current regulations also would permit ED to recalculate an institution’s composite score to account for its estimate of actual or potential losses resulting from certain events identified in the new Defense to Repayment Regulations. The regulations published on September 23, 2019 with an effective date of July 1, 2020 shorten and reduce the scope of the list of events that could result in ED determining the institution to fail ED’s financial responsibility standards and requiring a letter of credit or other form of acceptable financial protection and the acceptance of other conditions or requirements. ED has historically evaluated the financial condition of our institutions on a consolidated basis based on the financial statements of Universal Technical Institute, Inc. as the parent company. ED’s regulations permit ED to examine the financial statements of Universal Technical Institute, Inc., the financial statements of each institution and the financial statements of any related party. For our 2019 fiscal year, we calculated our composite score to be 1.8. However, the composite score calculations and resulting requirements imposed on our institutions are subject to determination by ED once it receives and reviews our audited financial statements. Return of Title IV Funds An institution participating in Title IV Programs must calculate the amount of unearned Title IV Program funds that have been disbursed to students who withdraw from their educational programs before completing them. The institution must return those unearned funds to ED or the appropriate lending institution in a timely manner, which is generally within 45 days from the date the institution determines that the student has withdrawn. If an institution is cited in an audit or program review for returning Title IV Program funds late for 5% or more of the students in the audit or program review sample, the institution must post a letter of credit in favor of ED in an amount equal to 25% of the total Title IV Program funds that should have been returned in the previous fiscal year. Compliance with Regulatory Standards and Effect of Regulatory Violations Our institutions are subject to audits and program compliance reviews by various external agencies, including ED, ED’s Office of Inspector General, state education agencies, student loan guaranty agencies, the VA and ACCSC, as well as other federal and state agencies. Each of our institutions’ administration of Title IV Program funds must also be audited annually by independent accountants and the resulting audit report submitted to ED for review. If ED or another regulatory agency determined that one of our institutions improperly disbursed Title IV Program funds or violated a provision of the HEA or ED’s regulations, that institution could be required to repay such funds and could be assessed an administrative fine. ED could also transfer the institution from the advance method of receiving Title IV Program funds to a cash monitoring or reimbursement system, which could negatively impact cash flow at an institution. Significant violations of Title IV Program requirements by us or any of our institutions could be the basis for a proceeding by ED to fine the affected institution or to limit, suspend or terminate the participation of the affected institution in Title IV Programs. Generally, such a termination extends for 18 months before the institution may apply for reinstatement of its participation. Veterans' Benefits Programs Since October 1, 2011, the Post-9/11 GI Bill has been effective for both degree and non-degree granting institutions of higher learning, allowing eligible veterans to use their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits. Additionally, veterans use benefits such as the Montgomery GI Bill, the REAP and VA Vocational Rehabilitation at our campuses. We derived approximately 15% of our revenues, on a cash basis, from veterans' benefits programs in 2019. To participate in veterans' benefits programs, including the Post-9/11 GI Bill, the Montgomery GI Bill, the REAP, and VA Vocational Rehabilitation, an institution must comply with certain requirements established by the VA. These criteria require, among other things, that the institution:
If we fail to comply with these requirements, we could lose our eligibility to participate in veterans' benefits programs. The VA shares responsibility for VA benefit approval and oversight with designated State Approving Agencies (SAAs). SAAs play a critical role in evaluating institutions and their programs to determine if they meet VA benefit eligibility requirements. Processes and approval criteria, as well as interpretation of applicable requirements, can vary from state to state. Therefore, approval in one state does not necessarily result in approval in all states. If we are unable to secure approvals in one or more states, or if the process for obtaining an approval takes significant time, we could be required to alter the delivery methodology or structure of the program or experience delays in or the loss of a portion of VA funding. Students receiving VA funding may not have the same flexibility in scheduling their coursework. The VA imposes limitations on the percentage of students per program receiving benefits under certain veterans’ benefits programs, unless the program qualifies for certain exemptions. If the VA determines that a program is out of compliance with these limitations, the VA will continue to provide benefits to current students, but new students will not be eligible to use their veterans' benefits for an affected program until we demonstrate compliance. Additionally, the VA requires a campus be in operation for two years before it can apply to participate in VA benefit programs. With the exception of our newest Bloomfield, New Jersey campus, which opened in August 2018, all of our campuses are eligible to participate in VA education benefit programs. During 2012, President Obama signed an Executive Order directing the DOD, Veterans Affairs and Education to establish “Principles of Excellence” (Principles), based on certain guidelines set forth in the Executive Order, to apply to educational institutions receiving federal funding for service members, veterans and family members. As requested, we provided written confirmation of our intent to comply with the Principles to the VA in June 2012. We are required to comply with the Principles to continue recruitment activities on military installations. Additionally, there is a requirement to possess a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the U.S. DOD as well as with certain individual installations. Our access to bases for student recruitment has become more limited due to recent changes in the Transition Assistance Program (Transition Goals, Plans, Success) and increased enforcement of the MOU requirement. Each of our institutions has an MOU with the U.S. DOD. We have MOUs with certain key individual installations and are pursuing MOUs at additional locations; however, some installations will not provide MOUs to institutions that do not teach at the installation. We continue to strengthen and develop relationships with our existing contacts and with new contacts in order to maintain and rebuild our access to military installations. |